SERIES #4 - (2) 1998 YANKEES v (15) 2008 RAYS

Back to the American League, this time in the Earl Weaver Bracket for the #2 versus #15 match-up pitting the 1998 New York Yankees against the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.  This is the lone representative for the Tampa franchise.  Let's take a look at how the two stack up.

1998 New York Yankees


Some experts like to say that the 1998 Yankees squad was the best team in the past half-century.  You would be hard pressed to argue against them.  This Yankees team set a franchise record for wins with 114, losing only 45.  For a franchise that has won 27 World Series titles to go along with 40 League Pennants, to set a record of any sort is quite an accomplishment.  They finished 22 games ahead of their closet rival.  This particular team also breezed through the postseason on their way to the title, going 11-2 and sweeping the San Diego Padres in the Fall Classic.


The offense was dynamic, as Bernie Williams (.997 OPS, 26 HR, 97 RBI), Tino Martinez (.860 OPS, 28 HR, 123 RBI), Derek Jeter (.864 OPS, 19 HR, 84 RBI) and Paul O'Neill (.882 OPS, 24 HR, 116 RBI) all had big seasons.  The team led the league in runs, scoring a whopping 964 times.

David Wells pitched a perfect game on May 17 against the Minnesota Twins that year.  He won 18 games on the season.  David Cone was the "ace" of the stafff, going 20-7 with a 3.55 ERA.  Mariano Rivera was himself, collecting 36 saves to go along with a 1.91 ERA.

2008 Tampa Bay Rays
A decade after the Yankees dominance, along came a Tampa team searching for its first postseason birth in franchise history.  The team actually came into existence in 1998, and had never even had a winning record in their ten years before 2008.  A couple things happened to turn things around.  First, several young players started to become relevant.  Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria were all home-grow talents that finally began realizing their potential.  On the mound, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and Edwin Jackson all came into the fold via trade.  The team went 97-65, winning the AL East.  After defeating the White Sox and Red Sox in the ALDS and ALCS respectively, they fell in the WS in five game to the Philiadelphia Phillies.

The other thing that made this franchise relevant was the hiring of manager Joe Maddon at the beginning of the 2006 season.  Maddon had been a career minor leage skipper until Rays management gave him his shot with the big club.  After a couple of seasons of growing pains, Maddon began working his magic in 2008.  He had managed several of the young players in the minors, and his influence on them developing cannot be overlooked.  Since the Rays went to the World Series in '08, the team has never failed to finish a season with a winning record, going to the postseason in three of the next five years.


PREDICTION
As exciting as the young Rays were in 2008, this is a horrible spot for them.  The 1998 Yankees squad is considered one of the favorites to take down the entire tournament.  No reason to believe they cannot dispatch Tampa here with ease.  YANKEES 3-0

Game 1
Tropicana Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York (A) 1998 (1-0)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	0
Tampa Bay 2008 (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	3	0
	W: D. Cone (1-0)   L: M. Garza (0-1)

This game was all about David Cone, who scattered three hits, walked none and struck out nine en route to a gem of a complete game shutout performance.  Only one Rays hitter made it to second base.  It was about as dominating a pitching performance you could put together.  A Chad Curtis solo blast in the 2nd inning was all the offense needed for the Yankees as they win 1-0 and go up 1-0 in the series.

Game 2
Tropicana Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York (A) 1998 (2-0)	0	1	0	3	1	0	0	1	0		6	9	1
Tampa Bay 2008 (0-2)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		2	9	1
	W: D. Wells (1-0)   L: S. Kazmir (0-1)

David Wells accepted the challenge from teammate David Cone and came out firing in this one.  While he didn't quite match the mastery of Cone's game one performance, Wells still went the distance, allowing only two runs while striking out 14 Tampa Bay batters.  He actually started the game by striking out the side, and closed it out by striking out the side in the 9th.  This game was all about the swing and the miss as New York hitters also struck out 14 times.  The Rays didn't plate their first runs of the series until the bottom half of the 6th inning, going 14 straight scoreless to start the series.  Not good.  Series shifts to the Bronx for game three where the Yankees will look to close it out.

Game 3
Yankee Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa Bay 2008 (0-3)	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	1		5	8	1
New York (A) 1998 (3-0)	1	1	3	0	0	2	0	6	X		13	15	3
	W: A. Pettitte (1-0)   L: J. Shields (0-1) SV: R. Mendoza (1)

The Bombers broke out their bats in this one, rapping out 15 hits and 13 runs and sending New York into the second round with a 13-5 victory over the Rays.  Tampa actually found their bats as well, knocking three HRs, but it wasn't nearly enough.  Andy Pettitte pitched into the 8th inning to pickup the win.

Series Recap
The 1998 Yankees were never challenged in this match-up, never trailing and dominating the Rays on all fronts.  They outscored Tampa 20-7 in the three game series sweep.  The Rays struck out 29 times against Yankee hurlers.  If not for their three HRs in the finale, their offense would have been historically pathetic.  David Cone gets the nod as MVP for his game one gem.  Chad Curtis garnered consideration, going 3-7 with five runs, a homer and six walks.  Bernie Williams also contributed, hitting .455 with a 2B, 3B and three walks.  It's onto round #2 for the Bombers as they face the winner of the match-up between the 8th seeded 1993 Toronto Blue Jays and the 9th seeded 1974 Oakland A's.